Archive

Recent Comments

Admin Only Panel

Welcome to the User Guide! If you just created this site, this page will give you a tour of the site's major pages and provide a step-by-step instructional for getting started. If this is your first Wikidot site, we also invite you to read the First Time User page.

Help Pages

These pages will help you get started with some specific aspects of Wikidot. These pages only provide a basic overview, and it is hence recommended that to fully explore the extent of Wikidot's power that you visit the Community How-Tos.

Step-by-step Setup

The below is a step-by-step instructional for setting up your blog. Except for the first step, these instructions need not be followed in any particular order.

Step 1: Admin CSS Page

If you cloned the Blog Template, then you are presently an admin of the site. The top bar has an admins only link, and the side bar has admin-only options, but they will only show if you have created an Admin CSS Page. Thankfully, this process is simple. Simply click on the button below, press save, and return to this page. When you are finished, you should see a small cogwheel appear in the top bar.

Step 2: Visit the Site Manager

The Site Manager is where you as an administrator of the site can change global site options, such as membership permissions, access policy, site name, and more. We recommend that you take a look at the settings in the manager and adjust them to fit your site's needs. It is especially encouraged that you ensure the following are in order before getting underway:

Item

Where it is found

Site Name

General Settings » Wiki Settings

Who can join your site, and how

Security » Access Policy

Member permissions

Security » Permissions

Forum settings and Categories

Forum

Step 3: Edit Basic Pages

We recommend that you populate the below pages with information relevant to your site. You may not need all of these pages, and hence you may delete any that you feel to be unnecessary.

A legal page detailing how user information is handled. If your site requires any more information than what Wikidot itself requires, you should modify this page accordingly.

Other Pages

The following pages are basic facilities of generic websites and are hence included in the Standard Template. They need not be edited, but you may, of course, do as you will if you are comfortable enough.

A one-stop location from which to manage all of your posts. It will show any unfinished drafts that you need to publish.

Step-by-step: How to Make a Post

Making a post is a simple process. Follow the below steps in order to see how to get started with your blog website!

Step 1: Create

First, you need to create a post page. You can do this from the side bar. If you have created an Admin CSS Page, then you will see a special section called the Admins Only Panel. On it is a text box that lets you type in the title of your new post.

To make a post, type the title of the post into the box and press the Create Post button.

Step 2: Edit

Once your page is created, you can now edit the post. You will see a few major sections, all of which are explained here.

Section

Description

First Paragraph

The section labeled First Paragraph is where you should put the first paragraph of your post. This paragraph is what appears as a summary on the main posts page for your posts. You are technically allowed to put more paragraphs there if you want. Ultimately, you have the freedom!

The Rest

The section labeled The rest is for everything except the first paragraph. When you save the page, you will notice that the text in this section is placed underneath the text in the First Paragraph section.

Hidden Notes

Hidden notes will not appear to viewers, as they are only visible in the source code. This is for you to put special info. For example, if your post was a puzzle, you could put the answer of the puzzle here so that you do not forget it in the future. Feel free to use this box for whatever you need, even if you just leave it empty.

Icon

Every post allows you to specify an Icon, like , , or . This adds character to each post if you so desire it, appearing on the front page as well as the actual post page. By default, no icon will show, but if you click on the dropdown box, all the options available will appear.

Cover Image

Finally, you are allowed to upload your own cover images for posts. This image will replace the Icon. We recommend that the images you use have a 4:3 ratio for the best display.

Publish?

This field is used later for publishing.

Step 3: Save

At the bottom of the edit page, you will see a save or cancel button. Clicking save will preserve all of your work so far.

Note: Saving the page will not publish it at the same time. Posts will not appear on feeds until a post is published. This allows you to continue editing and modifying your post until you feel it is ready for the public eye.

Step 4: Publish

Once you feel your post is ready, it is time to publish. To publish a post, you will now be using the Publish? field that you might have seen.

Click Edit, like you normally would to edit the page.

Click on the text field next to the Publish? tag. This will cause a small confirmation window to pop up.

Click the green Publish button. You will notice today's date appear in the field box.

Click Save.

Your post will now be viewable on the main page and to your audience!

Publishing

This is what the publishing window looks like.

Pressing the Publish button will fill in the field with the current date. You are actually allowed to modify the date if you feel it is necessary. However, it will not delay publishing; if you set the date to a future date, the post will still be published immediately. By default, its format is MM/DD/YYYY.

Step 5: Additional Options

At the bottom of the content, right before the Comments section, you may find an administration panel if you are logged in. This panel is only viewable by administrators and allows you to adjust viewing permissions of the page. These include the following:

Option

Description

Hide

This will remove the post from the feed, but the content will still be viewable. This is good if you wish to undo the publishing process for the sake of editing. You can always unhide the page afterward.

Hide Comments

This hides all the current comments made on the post and prevents future comments from being made. This can be useful if your post induces controversy that your audience decides to discuss vehemently.

Disable Comments

Unlike the previous option, this will only prevent future comments from being made. Current comments can still be viewed.

Delete

This will remove the post from the feed and hide the content as well. The page still technically exists, but its content is effectively inaccessible. You always have the option of permanently removing the page via Wikidot's deletion option. Doing so, however, prevents the page from being resurrected.

The Gallery

The Blog Template also offers a simple way for you to maintain a gallery of images. This page pulls in a set of photos from Flickr using the 'FlickrGallery' module. You can select photos by photo set ID, or just show all photos for your name.

Read the the FlickrGallery documentation at this link for more details.

Customizing Your Theme

By default, this site uses a theme called the Standard Theme. You may wish to deviate from the default shade of orange or replace the looks entirely. In this case, read the CSS Themes help page and visit the Themes Administration page for more details.